Unloading mechanism for farm wagons



Jan. 20, 1953 c. R. BRADSHAW 2,625,068

UNLOADING MECHANISM FOR FARM WAGONS Filed Oct. 1:5. 1949 Z orizqy Patented Jan. 20, 1 9 53 pmrrrp s TATE-S noannvc HANISM FOR FARM WAGONS i; .5 iii d par cu la l rt sa a pns. fr mw c ,iti unl a e a deqnv e j y mechanica wzh a P we d'rivcntbnv ror.o hlqwer, .wl igbein. rn; del ers the mea to .a ,barn .lu t $1 1 119 r s ra hilil ins'pr rh thm-ta il resen invention, the unloadmg of wagons containingthe chopped materialis,greatly facilitated and a conveyor or'blower for carrying the material to the place of storage may be ied at a controlled rate directly from the wagon, with a minimum of-manual-labor.

It is an object of my invention'-l' o.prov'idefor a w gon havin an AlllQttQiflfifiQQYfi novel material retarding and controlling mechanism whereloy, when the conveyor is operated tl load of chopped material is discharged; from thenwagon erad g an at a ca ttrolledrfiit. her-alien asa large irregular mass.

Alparticular object is to provide for a wagon having. a onveyor extending along its; gr;,or botto a ,pl'urality of baflie; nempers a anged topartially"relieve'theconveyor of the pressure created by the overlying load of chopped material, and to control the rate of discharge of the material carried by the conveyor.

Further objects are to adapt a wagon of the class described to carry unusually large and heavy loads of chopped material, to minimize the manual labor required in the discharge of such loads from the wagon, and to effectively guard against the overloading of the wagon conveyor during the unloading operation.

The invention also includes certain other novel features of construction which will be more fully pointed out in the following specification and claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates, by way Of example and not for the purpose of limitation, a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing my unwagon also h as-afront end walhl a re 2 a -nismmaimed an e QfE Q P- ab QQQnSF PiQn 7 F -r th eent ra lons u a se ian ew ou hzth Wa n-P n i i iimfi 7 1" oad n in qhae sm ih rum a e T s m ft o h .Wag'Q .aein. ,l wnqia Cally; s

rFis- B i a ra s sec i n Vi 't he aste ma t ke 9 l11 1a and U j ig. A is a perspective view showing one 'of thehaiiiesand supporting brackets t 6 H W. M

In the drawing, the" wagon tear having sidewalls 5, the l'oyver per converge downwardlyto a lcottom or oo'iqe;

wan or tajl gate t. grief-tan gate; lower removable "panels so that wh' panel is removed'anop'e ning "j which theinaterialcontamd 1n hefwag a be dischargedf bypperation ofia conveyor indi cated generally bythe "numeral fill. This"c6nveyor is -9f "the commontype having {pair of parallelendless chains' 'l I; "ppnhejctea "at "st-tame intervals by "cross bars-'12; anweprstm supported on yyl'ieels and provided with draft ec m q qeae ii n 9. 'ef trettflr'i irai animals.

;Extepdingacrossthewagon above the conveyor [0 and--below the upper 5" the wal W re als IS, IT and I8. Since these bafiies are of identical construction a description of one of them will be suflicient. Each bafiie comprises a. long and relatively narrow flat plate supported at each end on a triangular bracket I9 having a Vertically disposed flange 20 adapted to be fastened at any desired elevation to an angle bar 2| extending vertically and fixed on one of the walls 5 of the wagon. Each angle bar 2| has a flange 2m which projects perpendicularly to the wall 5 and is formed with a multiplicity of spaced perforations 22 severally adapted to receive a bolt 23 for fastening an end of one of the baflies to the wagon. As shown in Fig. 4, each of the flanges 20 has a perforation 24 to receive a bolt 23, and each baiile is reinforced by longitudinally extended angle bars 25. The several bafiies are thus supported at an incline of approximately 45 degress to the vertical and with 3 their upper edges rearwardly of their respective lower edges.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bafile I6 is positioned at a slightly higher elevation than the baflie l1, and the latter at a slightly higher elevation than the baflle l8. These baflles are spaced apart longitudinally of the Wagon at approximately equal distances and the rear baflle IB is located above and somewhat forwardly of the rear end of the conveyor I0. By this arrangement of baflles, I divide the body of the wagon into three compartments of approximately the same size or capacity.

Each of the conveyor chains II is supported on a channel-shaped beam 26 extending longitudinally of the wagon bottom and these beams also afford supports for the floor 6. The upper reaches of the chains are slidably supported on the floor 6, and the lower reaches of the chains and cross bars [2 carried thereby are supported on the lower flanges of the beams 26.

In use, the tail gate of the wagon is closed at the opening 9 when the wagon is to be filled with the chopped material. A large load of the material may be charged into the wagon at the top in the usual manner and the wagon may be filled to an elevation as high or higher than the several walls, in some cases the sides being built up by attaching auxiliary wall members at the top to afiord maximum capacity. The loaded wagon is moved to the location where it is to be unloaded and the lower tail gate panel is opened to provide the discharge opening 9. By suitable driving connection with a, tractor or other motor, the shaft 15 of the conveyor I i driven so that the conveyor bars I2 are operated to discharge the chopped material through the opening 9.

During the unloading operation, the bafiles I6, I! and I8 partially relieve the conveyor [0 from the weight of the overlying load of material, and, as the conveyor moves in the direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. 2, the inclined baflies tend to lift as well as retard the upper portion of the load as the lower portion thereof is carried toward the opening 9. By reason of my arrangement of the baiiles at progressively higher elevations toward the discharge end of the conveyor, th front end compartment between the bafile l8 and end wall 1 is unloaded first, the material therefrom being carried out through the opening 9 gradually and at a substantially uniform rate. This is followed by the emptying of the compartment between the.

baiiies l1 and I8, and thereafter the emptying of the rear end comparment between the baflies l6 and I1. Ordinarily, with proper adjustment of the baflies, no hand work is required to control and maintain the desired gradual and uniform rate of unloading of the chopped material carried in the wagon.

The elevation of the several baflles above the conveyor may be adjusted to obtain any desired rate of discharge of the material. Thus the several bafiles l6, l1 and [8 may be secured at any desired elevation on their supporting angle bars 2| by suitable location of the connecting bolts 23 in the appropriate perforations 22. The height of the bafiies may also be adjusted to compensate for the condition of the material contained in the wagon with respect to its moistur content and general tendency to pack or flow; freely. Ordinarily, the wagon is arranged to discharge the chopped material through the opening 9 upon a conveyor arranged to feed a suitable blower for carrying the material to the place of storage.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is:

For a wagon having side and end Walls and a floor, one of said end walls having a removable member providing an opening through which material carried in the wagon may be discharged, the combination with a conveyor extending along the floor of said wagon to discharge material through said opening, a plurality of bafile plates extending across and above said conveyor in spaced relation one to another intermediate its ends, said bafile plates being inclined with their upper edgesdisposed rearwardly of their respective lower edges and mean adjustably connecting the ends of said baflie plates to the side walls of the wagon at selected elevations such that the lower edge of a bafile plate near the. discharge end of the conveyor is at a higher elevation than the lower edge of a plate toward the front end of the conveyor.

CLIFFORD R. BRADSHAW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Gaddis Feb. 7, 1950 

